Get a taste of the Blue Crew Tailgate

"The earthquake cake recipe I used was taken from an old cookbook from Blue Bell Creamery I purchased many, many years ago. You can find the same recipe all over the Internet now, but, I like to give them credit. There are different variations but this one is simple and delicious. "

Mix cake mix according to directions on box. Mix cream cheese and butter in medium bowl and melt in microwave. Stir in 3/4 to 1 box of powdered sugar until smooth. Spray bottom of 9x13 pan with cooking spray, place coconut and pecans on bottom of pan. Spread cake mix on top, do not mix. spoon cream cheese, butter, and powered sugar mix on top of cake mix, no need to spread it. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45-50 min.

2. Monkey bread: Courtesy of Sandy Catoe

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Cut each roll into 4 pieces. Drop roll pieces into 1 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon mixture. Drop sugar coated pieces into a well-buttered Bundt pan (don’t squish roll pieces when placing them in the pan). Put 1/2 cup of the left-over sugar/cinnamon mix and 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar and 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) into a small saucepan. Bring this mixture just to a boil: remove from heat immediately. Carefully drizzle over the roll pieces. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool slightly in an upright position, then tip pan over onto a plate. To remove monkey bread, pull-apart by pieces of bread.

Chopped pecan pieces can be added if desired, or chocolate chips. We like it best without either.

3. Crack Weenies: Courtesy of Katie Martin

"They are so good but they are like crack….you’ll get addicted to them."

Pour a generous portion of the syrup into the bottom of your baking dish, enough to at least cover the bottom of it. Cut bacon into thirds and wrap a strip around each little sausage. Secure the bacon with toothpick, and place into a baking dish. Once your done, sprinkle the spice mix over the weenies. If making in advance, cover with foil, and refrigerate until ready to bake. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees (375 if they've been refrigerated). Generously sprinkle the brown sugar over the sausages until they're covered. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake another 20 minutes, or until the brown sugar is mostly melted, and the syrup is nice and bubbly. Before taking them out of the oven, put on your oven's broiler, crank up the temperature, and broil for a few minutes to give them a nice bit of caramelization.

Notes: - If you're making these for a big party, double the recipe. Unless you party with vegetarians, trust me...these things are going to go quick. - You MUST use light brown sugar. I've tried it with the dark stuff and it just does NOT melt. I prefer the 10x12 throwaway aluminum pans for baking these for two reasons: 1. They're nice and deep. 2. Cleanup is much easier. But you can move them to a warming dish or crockpot once they're baked, just be sure to save some of the syrup to pour over them.

Use deep baking dish to maximize layers. Layers: noodles, layer velveeta slices, layer mozzarella, heavy sprinkle of parmesan, 8-10 pats of butter (easy on the butter, too much and it will be swimming in it), pour on heavy cream (judge how much you will need for each layer), sprinkle on Season All and garlic powder. Repeat layers until pan is full. Bake on a cookie sheet in case it bubbles over. Bake covered with foil at 350 for 45 minutes. Bump up temp to 400, uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until cheese on top starts to brown